Let’s be honest, today’s financial climate is not doing anyone any favours, and logically industries are reforming business strategies in order to remain sustainable. The gaming industry is no different.

A senior writer at TheSixthAxis speaks of an email revealing that Chris Deering, Sony Europe’s former President, believes triple-A rated new titles ought to retail at an astonishing £70 in order to safeguard the industry – his justification being that development costs for PS3 games are significantly higher than they were for PS2 and PSone games.

Activision’s earlier decision to up the UK price of Modern Warfare 2 to £55 could very well be the catalyst for such thinking. In fact, it is known that other publishers intend to follow suit and consider reviewing their current pricing strategies. However, that’s not to say that consumers will be forced to pay these prices, as online retailers and a handful of high street stores tend to shave a few pounds off a title’s RRP in order to shift units.

In our humble opinion, a universal rise in cost might adversely deter consumers from buying brand new games, or even buying at all, resulting in fewer sales. Deering in his own words reinforces our prediction:

‘Consumers won't spend more, but to write the game, publishers are having to spend more than ever before. That's the key problem.’

We hope a mutually beneficial solution isn't far away.